Enigmatic defense still a mystery

For the longest time, the Eagles' success or failure could be measured mostly by just one position: quarterback.

No longer.

Michael Vick and his merry band of backups, Vince Young and Mike Kafka, have been consistent in their inconsistencies all season. No, the Eagles' success this year has been tied to their defense and their defense only.

In every one of their five wins, the defense has been more than good. It's been outstanding. In every one their eight losses, it's been horrible.

Period.

Head coach Andy Reid, general manager Howie Roseman, president Joe Banner and most of us who watch all of the organizations' moves thought this would not be as big a problem at the start of the season. Sure, the Eagles would have their ups and downs defensively, but their offensive juggernaut would allow them to win a couple of shootouts along the way -- like the teams in New Orleans and New England and even Green Bay.

Turns out their offense and their special teams haven't been good enough to carry them, so every mistake they make on defense gets magnified tenfold.

That said, more was expected of first-year coordinator Juan Castillo than he certainly has been able to deliver.

Despite what happened during the Eagles' 26-10 victory at Miami on Sunday, the defense has shown no signs yet that it has turned the corner for good, despite turning in its most dominating performance of the season.,

Castillo and Reid were particularly proud of the nine sacks the team had of Matt Moore and J.P. Losman against a suspect offensive line weakened by the loss in the first quarter of left tackle Jake Long.

Most of those sacks, Castillo pointed out afterward, were the result of good coverage by a secondary that's been more overmatched than competent so far.

He would know better than any of us, but how can anyone bring themselves to agree? None of their defensive problems have been cured yet. What Castillo and his defense manages to do from time to time is simply treat the symptoms, make them go away temporarily -- like Valtrex does with herpes.